Requiem for the Rokudaime
by tokara2132
Summary: As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Part Six.
1. Foxes and Scarecorws: Naruto

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Foxes and Scarecrows: Naruto

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Note:** This fanfiction is inspired by the great "Requiem for Vincent". If you're a fan of Final Fantasy Seven, I would recommend you read that.

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 1**

It's sunny today. On a day like today, it shouldn't be sunny. To think it would be so damn sunny on a day that doesn't have any right to be is beyond my understanding. I want to just start yelling at the top of my lungs. Hell, I even wanna try to send the fox in my gut skyward in hopes the bastard would make the sun stop shining, at least for the hour and a half to get this damn funeral over with. It was times like this I would have someone to kill, to try and take revenge for your death. But I can't.

In a way, you knew what was going to happen and kinda expected it. Hell, that's what happens to the people who become Hokage. Ever since the mission to save Sasuke, you had managed to gain the attention of the Council, and when Danzo made his move against Tsunade-obachan, you were the one to spear the bastard through the gut with your Chidori…Raikiri…whatever. It was because you had managed to stop the…uh…what did Sakura call it again…Oh…machinations of a man who had been almost been Hokage himself. It was impressive to them, to say the least. It was that that made it possible for you to become Hokage, even before me. It proved that you had the skill and planning ability to handle the position.

Lo and behold, when that happened, Tsunade-obaa-chan appointed you as her replacement. You took some serious training, and then took your place as Rokudaime Hokage about a year after your training started. I was so mad when you, the perverted, late, squirrelly bastard of a jounin who really wasn't reliable at all being allowed to be Hokage before me.

I was furious that you, Hatake Kakashi, was allowed to be Hokage before me. But as time went on, I realized later on, on the very mission that you personally led, that you deserved it. You had gotten freaky strong. Hell, you had managed to be able to use the Mangekyo Sharingan twice and not have any problems. Knowing what I know now, that in and of itself in really impressive. No amount of pervertedness, laziness, and all out unreliability would make me hate you now.

Hell, it was you who killed the snake bastard after just a single month of being Hokage. It was your skill and abilities that sent the snake bastard skidding and, in the end, six feet under. Okay, that and the help of Kabuto, of all people. Man, what side is that guy on, anyway? Anyhow, it was what your teacher and my own teacher after you, Ero-sannin, taught you that allowed you to become more than just what the Mist feared. It made you legend, like the Legendary Sannin and the Fourth Hokage before you. And, like your own teacher before you, had only been in office for a little while before hell came knocking on Konohas door and the sacrifice of a Hokage was made.

Heh. And to think they'll have to carve your ugly mug into the monument now. Will I finally be able to see what the hell was under that damn mask of yours?

Now that I'm done doing that stupid soul searching, I now get the chance to see those who had come early. The first person I see is Iruka, of all people, with the VERY pregnant Anko. They had been dating for…what, three years…or longer, don't quite remember, and then Anko got knocked up. Iruka decided to be "honorable" and proposed to her. Anko, being the loud sadistic snake woman that she is, decided to screw with Iruka-sensei for a week before saying yes. Now, they're expecting…what did Shizune say the baby was again?

Now I see Sakura-chan. Poor girl is bawling. And I really can't do anything for that pain. It's like a kunai going straight into your chest, and I know that the best thing is to just find a place and let it out. Well, maybe it isn't, but that's what I think.

Now I look and see Sasuke. It was during your mission to bring him back that led not only to the interest of the council but also to Danzos desperation move against Tsunade-obachan. Funny thing is, when you put the seal on his cursed mark again, his will was so dead set on his brother that his will didn't weaken for the life of him. That gave you time to hand him off to Yamato and sent him on a "training" mission.

Hee hee, like that was a training mission. You just wanted to get him as far away from Orochimaru as possible. You wanted to make sure that when the snake bastard came after him

And Yamato did just that…managing to get away and eventually sacrificing himself to make sure Sasuke wasn't taken again by the Sound and showing just how much Sasuke was cared for here in Konoha. It's just…just…

Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Why the hell did you die, you one eyed, white-haired jackass! Why the hell did someone who was worth more than their weight gold to me have to die right in front of me? Why the hell is life so unfair? Why….?

Huh…who's holding my hand?

Oh, Hinata-chan. Hinata smiled her reassuring smile. It's funny. The weird, shy girl at the back of the class has to reassuring me, the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja of Konoha. But I'm not that anymore. Well, not JUST that, anyway. I'm a jounin now, like you were. I'm going in next month to see the prospective genin and become what you were yourself. I'm gonna see if this next series of batch of students has what it takes to be genin. And I'm taking a page out of your book: I'm doing that kaki-forsaken bell test of yours.

Hinata-chan is going to be going for jounin soon, herself. I'm glad she's doing it. Hell, it was just two weeks ago, just before I went with you, Iruka-sensei, Sai, and Gai to hold off the sound bastards at the main gates, that she told me how she felt. She told me….that…that she loved me.

_LOVED_ me, Kakashi-sensei!

Hell, at first I thought she was joking

But then again, it's Hinata-chan. She really doesn't…joke. After our talk, I was happier than I had ever been in my life…Wait, I take that back. I was the second happiest in my life. The happiest was that night in the woods with Iruka-sensei. But that's beside the point. When you saw my face, you (with that smart-ass way and smart-ass smile of yours) said, "When we get out of this, make sure that you don't smile like that. It'll scare her away."

Wait, why am I thinking of her now? Oh, my hand has hers.

Well, I have smiled that way since then, and only when she was around. She is "quite endeared" to it, as Shino said after the fighting stopped. I had tried to lighten the mood, knowing full well I was probably going to be crying myself to sleep that night. I told him about what Hinata said, and his reaction was classic.

He just said, "You're just now getting it." Now, I know the Aburame normally don't show emotions, but immediately after he said that, he began…laughing.

Okay, well, it was more of a slight chuckle, but coming out of THAT emotionless bastard was miraculous.

Now that I think about it, I did miss most of the battle. All I remember was fighting off a whole bunch of sound nines at the gate with Rock Lee, Shino, and Shikamaru when they all just…stopped. It was weird as all hell. I didn't know what happened until I saw them scatter and I saw you, with your hand imbedded with Orochimaru chest and the Chidori still sizzling.

Then…KABOOM!

The bastard blew apart just blew apart! I really didn't know how you did it, and even after I asked Iruka-sensei, I still don't understand how. Anyway, you looked at me and did that stupid ass eye smile of yours…then…you fell over. The three of us ran over to see Gai slumped over nearby with a nasty gash on his back and Iruka facing down Kabuto with a really confused look on his face. After trying to resuscitate you, Kabuto actually offered to try. My initial reaction was to gut the guy with my Rasengan. But Iruka-sensei stopped me and Kabuto went to work. When that didn't work, we tried to get Tsunade-obachan.

That didn't work, and here you are. About to be put into a damn hole. Kabuto led the sound nins away and said that Konoha would not have to worry about Otogakure again. Tsunade said she would retake the title of Hokage. I said I would be the next Hokage…the …uh….

Crap. What was the Old Language word for seventh? I'll have to look that up again.

Some glorious end for the famous Copy Nin of Konoha. Everything done in a month and now I'm trying to figure out what 'Seventh' is as your going to be put in the ground and rot as worm food. Wow. Then again, you did make Orochimaru, the worst traitor in Konohas history, blow up like a firecracker.

I'm gonna have to see if Iruka-sensei could explain _how _you did that to me again. I'm now hopelessly confused about how that exactly happened. Well, now you'll be able to join with that Uchiha friend of yours as well as the Yondaime Hokage. I'd bet he'd have a cow to see that you're a damn pervert AND a Hokage.

Let's just hope that you're giving him one hell of a time up there. Oh, and make sure you thank him for me. It sucked in the beginning, but without the Kyuubi, I really don't think I would have been able to survive as long as I have without the fox in me. I wouldn't have survived long enough to be here, and long enough to hear Hinatas' words.

Oh, hell, I'm getting sappy now!

**END**

A/N: And with that, the Requiem starts! Soon, I'll go over the rest of Team Sevens thoughts on the death of their sensei and the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure. If you have some questions as to what happened, it will be revealed what happened in the fight when it comes to Gai and Iruka.

Until then, mwahahahahahaha!

Extra revision notes: I caught the "Gay" mess up (damnnable spell check!) and reloaded the story corrected. And I must thank A Crazy Girl of Many Names and Who's Asking for the input for the Seventh Hokage (nichidaime). You'll be seeing it soon!


	2. A Prodigies Conviction: Sasuke

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** A Prodigies Conviction: Sasuke

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 2**

As I look around and I see the faces of all around, all of them showing so much regret and remorse for burying the person that my teacher, my mentor, my foolish leader…and in the end my savior. I don't know if, should I have been normal, I would be crying like Sakura or on the verge of like Naruto. I don't know how to react because I hid my emotions in that…mask of stoicism I wore ever since _he_…

I need to stop this. With your help, I was rescued from Orochimaru. I was leading an attack on one of the villages to the north with Kabuto and low and behold there was Naruto. I'm not sure if he even knew that I was there, but when I fought one of the Storm ninjas, I was somehow matched. There was something familiar about her, but I really didn't know at the time. But the fact she had matched me, even with my training but somehow gained an advantage and managed to apply something to my cursed seal, knocking me out. I was furious as I saw the hand, glowing blue with chakra, was applied on my cursed seal and led to an explosion of pain and eventually blackness. When I came to you had bound me down and were about to perform the seal. You said you had come to "rescue me".

At the time, I sure in hell didn't think that you rescued. You were taking away my chance. I saw it as my one and only chance to gain enough power to stop _him_. You were planning to take away my one chance to kill _him_! I didn't care that he was just going to use my body! I didn't care if my whole being was destroyed, so long as that bastard that killed my family died too! I cussed, I fought, I screamed, and did combinations of all three as you dragged me away from him. My one source of power.

It all became clearer when you put that seal on me. At first, I thought it was the same one you put on me after my preliminary match. But when it was used…a lot of what I thought started to…well, the best word to describe it is shift. I saw everything clearer, and I became sick with myself.

There I was, having betrayed all of them, and yet they still came. They were a power in and of itself, one that managed to get me away from Orochimaru and bring me back, despite everything Orochimaru and myself could do. It was a power I was blind to, one that was sitting in front of my face and stuck its tongue out at me every chance it got.

Naruto.

Sakura.

You too, Kakashi.

Hell, even the weirdest people in Konoha gave me a power I never thought existed. When I fought Haku on the bridge while defending Naruto….I gave myself a taste of that power by unlocking the Sharingan. When I copied Rock Lees move and came up with the Shishi Rendan, I honestly didn't know that in just copying it I gained a bit of that power. When I learned the Chidori from you, I was looking that power in the face.

The whole time it was in front of my face, but eluded my understanding.

When I unlocked my Sharingan, I thought that it was me unlocking my potential, making it ever-closer to my goals of killing _him_. When I fought Rock Lee, I found out that the Sharingan had its weaknesses. In my stupidity, I thought that it showed that I still lacked the power to kill _him_. I didn't see the benefit, even when I copied his abilities in the chunin exam to defeat my opponent in the preliminaries. When I studied under you for the final exam against Gaara, I saw my "dream" in reach, gaining enough power to kill _him_ using this move that you taught me, the pinnacle of ninjitsu.

I became wracked with jealousy when I found out that the bastard from my past came not for me to allow me to finish my work, but for the person I saw as least important in my life. Why had the orange clad moron who I had to work with become the target of _him_? Why was HE so important!

Now I know why. Naruto was with you when you came to get me. He was the one who fought against my most powerful form and…yet he always matched me.

How?

Why?

Now I know. Even if he is aware of it or not, he had tapped into that power, with the help of the Kyuubi in him, he had that power. If I was really the prodigy I was made out to be, I would have known that those who have fought for someone other than themselves have always been seen as the most power. That's why those who were chosen to be Hokage were often considered the most compassionate of people.

Now that I think about it, I remember my discussion with the kitsune in Naruto. He mentioned an Uchiha. I don't remember his name right now, but when I did some research it turned out that the Uchiha in question was the first in my family line to develop the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Maybe that was my first clue that the Uchihas weren't exactly the best of people to begin with. Hell, to think that a man like that ancestor of mine would be thought of as more vile, more evil than one of the most bloodthirsty things in the worlds history? As my own research continued, I saw that I was a direct descendant of that man.

Strange, I thought.

As my gaze begins to shift, I see Naruto himself, my rival ad…somehow…my beloved brother. His eyes are downcast and his eyes are watering. At his side is the Hyuuga heir. What was her name again? Oh, yes, Hinata. The white eyed girl that was shy. Seeing the two there made me a bit optimistic. To think the fool was able to be involved with a woman like that. She was not just a woman of stature and privilege, but also it seems like she had cared for him, even when Sakura had chastised him and I…betrayed him.

When I was away, I missed everything that had happened between Iruka and the crazy snake woman who had been Orochimarus apprentice while he was still loyal to Konoha. However, judging by the massive bulge, she was heavily pregnant. Also, guessing by how the she and Iruka are standing that close to one another, I'm guessing the two are in a relationship.

I never would have thought Iruka would have had enough gaul to go after her.

And to think, when all this happened I was either away with Orochimaru or away with Yamato. After the seal was put on me, it was imperative to get me as far away from Konoha, to avoid Orochimarus wrath and to keep me safe from anyone who would want the Sharingan for themselves

Yamato volunteered for the mission, and took me away, traveling far and wide, more often then not to the west beyond Suna. I stayed with him for two and a half years while training in the west. As I trained with him, I know that my understanding of this new power that you somehow managed to open my eyes to see. As I trained, I was hearing rumors of the amount of troops the Sound village had amassed. This was when Yamato decided to head back. We were a few miles from Konoha when the new Sound Four attacked Yamato and me. We got separated, but I managed to kill two of them. By the time I was able to get to Yamato, however, he was fatally wounded by the person who replaced me as the leader of the Sound Four. I was furious that Yamato was dead…but when I fought the new leader…I lost my anger.

I seriously did. The things that the kid was saying reminded me of what I had said when I fell for Orochimarus bullshit. I felt pity for him. I crippled him, breaking his legs in so many places only someone as skilled as Tsunade would be able to heal them. When he asked me why I had spared him, I said five little words. They were vague, but in my mind it was perfect.

"You really need to know."

He really needed to know what Orochimaru was going to do to a village that he betrayed so many years ago. He really should have known that the power Orochimaru offered him was a false one, one that I fell for like an idiot. And he still didn't see it. The idiot Sound Four leader was screaming as he tried to crawl to me and finish his mission as I walked away. He was cursing and yelling, hoping that I would die.

I let him be.

As I tried to make my way to Konoha, I was given another shock as the Kazekage himself came and insisted that I stay away from Konoha. The army Orochimaru had gathered was attacking the village and he was planning to send Suna-nin to support Konoha against the massive army.

Hell, I was shocked to find out that when he had come forward, I was looking in the face of the green eyed bastard who crippled Rock Lee and nearly killed Sakura. It's funny how much people can change. But when Naruto is involved, it happens a bit more often than not. Just look at the woman at his side. At Sakura. At you. Hell, even at the current Hokage.

To think he had that much power.

And that is the power I want now. The power to protect others. The power avengers like me are blind to. I want to use that power to protect Naruto as he did me. To protect the people of this village. To protect Sakura.

It's what you taught me.

Isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei?

**END**

A/N: Well, the response was amazing! I'm glad that I had such a response on what I write, as always. Now that Sasuke has been covered, I'll have Sakura, Iruka, Anko, Hinata, Tsunade, and one surprise chapter, for all of you to guess at. But I doubt you will…

Hee hee! And you'll never get it out of me!


	3. Cherry Blossom Tears: Sakura

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Cherry Blossom Tears: Sakura

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 3**

The tears keep coming.

I know I shouldn't. I explained it to Tazuna so many years ago: Ninja are not to show emotion. And yet here I am, blubbering like an idiot over something that I should be used to by now. Death is consistently the companion of ninja. It's even in the job description: Ninjas are to kill for their missions, should the mission call for it.

Ninjas are supposed to die for their missions, should their mission require it to succeed.

And here you are, having done just that.

Where was I when you made that sacrifice? I stayed back, healing the wounded and completely safe from harm. Wow, what great peril I was in when the war came? I was in back putting people together while you saved the village.

After all, I am a medic nin. I was in the middle of healing a large gash on the leg of Inuzuka Kiba when all the fighting stopped. Then I heard it. Orochimaru was dead, killed by the Rokudaime Hokage himself! I was so happy that finally, that snake bastard (using Narutos words for him) was finally gone. But then the front line started the calls for medic nin. I was one of the first on the scene and took Maito Gai to the tent. He had a massive gash across his small of the back that looked like it either severed or possibly damaged his spinal column.

I did the best I could with your self-declared "rival", but the chances are he will be partially crippled for the rest of his life. Gai was in terrible shape to begin with, with his back sliced open and his body still suffering the effects of the gates.

There was only so much I could do for him. But even with him, he had survived. Gai would find some way around it, much like his own student had all those years ago. You were not so lucky. When I looked over you, I saw a series of wounds that looked serious, but I could easily gloss over. After all, I was the student of Konohas greatest medic-nin and Godaime Hokage. I know I could get those no problem. When I scanned your body to look over any internal injuries or injuries to your chakra coils, I could have sworn that I made a mistake.

I wasn't surprised that your innards looked like bunt ramen. After a massive fight with a damn Sannin, I would expect someones' guts to look like soup. Your normally robust and thick chakra coils were a little surprising, but after hearing about what had happened I wasn't surprised they had been damaged. But the last thing I saw when I scanned you is what shocked me most.

Your chakra reserves weren't there.

They were gone.

Kabuto tried to help (much to my shock) and at first it looked like he had done some good. I could only watch on as he managed to get your innards relatively healed, but with your chakra damn near gone, and your chakra coils weren't responding to the healing of Kabuto. After Kabuto said he couldn't do anything, I called for Tsunade, letting her know of the situation.

She was with you for almost an hour before she said you were a lost cause. She let us all out of the room as the final preparations were made as you rotted away. I remember crying when she said that, Naruto looking like he was about to. The only two that didn't have any emotions on their faces was Tsunade-sensei and Shizune. But, knowing Shizune as I do now, the way her face was quaking, it look like she was about to start crying herself. I know you and her became good friends during your training.

Well, Tsunade-sensei, was right. No more than an hour after she looked at you, you had died. And as I said with Shizune, she was hurting at the loss.

Naruto is like that too. The normally bright, happy goofball that I have come to know and eventually care about is on the verge of bursting into tears. But at least he has some moral support. Who knew that Hinata cared about him that much? It was fairly obvious that the girl had a crush on him when we were all in the Academy, but when Naruto left to train I thought that all of that disappeared. But when Naruto had gone to fight at the main gates with Sai and the rest, I saw the stupidest grin on his face and her face beet red. It didn't take much to put two and two together.

Speaking of Sai, he isn't here. He was put on a mission to make sure the Sound ninjas went back to Otogakure. Tsunade didn't trust Kabuto to just up and stop the attacks on Konoha by Otogakure. So far, so good, but it's been a day or so since he has been heard from. Well, I guess that is as much as I can expect from the man who came up with those stupid ass nicknames.

Isn't that right, old man?

Now I see Sasuke. In the time between when he left and now, he had changed from the object of my blind affection to a distant friend to redeemed man. When he was leaving to train with Yamato about three years ago now, he took me aside and apologized for what he did.

Little did he know that in saying that, he made me fall in love with him again, like when I was an academy student. This time, it wasn't just some foolishly blind crush on someone who was unattainable. When he told me he was sorry, he wasn't the cold-hearted bastard he became under Orochimaru. Hell, he wasn't the stoic, if slightly unbalanced, young boy obsessed with revenge he was when I was just another stupid fan girl.

He was honest. He was sincere. He was much like a man coming back to a lost love after being a fool. He made me feel like I was cared for. Like what I had hoped for and craved from the time my crush developed. This time, it isn't some hopeless fool. When I look at Sasuke, I feel something deep inside me that I didn't when I was younger. That honest look into him, one that he had never done before, had my guts twisting in ways they never had before.

I wonder if he knows. I wonder what he's thinking right now.

Now I see that adorable couple that had is Iruka-sensei and Anko. Granted, she can be a bit crazy at times, but Iruka sensei had a good effect on her. She has calmed down, and now she's pregnant with a baby boy! I'm glad that even in the face of death there is some life to shine through even when it's at its bleakest. Anko is due any day now, and I won't be too surprised if Iruka-sensei is there the whole time, looking worried.

Iruka-sensei was always the dependable type. Maybe that's why Anko loves him so much. She sometimes acts irritated around him, but whenever she looks at him her eyes shine with something that I have seen when Asuma-sensei looks at Kurenai-sensei. I have seen it when Hinata looks at Naruto.

I'm guessing I have that in my eyes when I look at Sasuke.

Well, I know that Tsunade-sensei is going to take her place as Godaime Hokage again. I know that when Danzo had moved against her she was glad to see that someone had managed to stop him. It was kinda funny, as I found out. Apparently, you and Iruka-sensei were closest to the Hokage tower when he made his move. Iruka-sensei had used that shadow move…uh…Kage Sennpu, that's what it's called…anyway, you and he had managed to get passed all the guards Danzo had set up. When you both went to face him, Iruka-sensei was hopelessly outmatched and put up the Kage Sennpu to defend the both of you. You simply activated the Sharingan and charged up your Chidori.

What Iruka-sensei said happened next was "amazing," using his own words. You went straight _through_ the Kage Sennpu and sent your Chidori through Danzos chest as he was about to kill Tsunade-sensei. I know that she had been really grateful about that, and was partially the reason why she chose you to replace her.

The reason why she had you train with both herself and Jiraiya-sama in preparation to become Hokage.

The reason why you were the first person to lead the fight as Orochimaru came to Konohas gates, looking for Sasuke-kun.

The very reason why you're here now. Why you're about to be buried.

Damn it. The tears are coming again.

**END**

**A/N:** Well, now another chapter is done, and some major hinting has been made as to who is the secret chapter and also about a certain pairing.

Here's a hint on the person in question who is the mystery chapter: that person has been mentioned in every chapter to date.


	4. Comrades Lament: Iruka

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Comrades Lament: Iruka

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 4**

Well, here we are, about to bury another Hokage far before their time. I was only a young boy when the Kyuubi attacked and the Fourth faced down the bloodthirsty beast. And, more than eighteen years later, another Hokage has fallen as a foe from our own past threatened all we knew. This time, I was on the front lines, fighting with those I have come to see as friends. Unlike the last time, I was able to help those I cared about, from my son, to my wife, to my soon to be son.

Even though he isn't really my son, Naruto is as close to one as I ever had. At least, before Anko-chan got pregnant. I was ecstatic when she told me she was expecting and a week after that I asked her. Anko, being Anko, decided to mess with me for a week before she said yes. When I had told Naruto, he was happy beyond belief, as was Sakura.

You, on the other hand, decided to be a smart ass. After getting that kind of response from Naruto and Sakura, before Sai could say anything, you said one of the funniest things ever.

"You know, snakes eat their mates."

I was about ready to laugh at what you said, but Sasukes replacement on Team Seven looked thoughtful. After you had said that, Sai was convinced of this and decided to do some research. He found that three forms of snakes native to the Fire Nation were cannibalistic, one of whom resembled the snakes Anko summoned. Of course, when this was brought to my attention (Sai lacked the tact to not only be discreet but to say it when Anko was there as well) Anko was furious. Well, Sai knew right then and there that his books told him nothing of the wrath of a woman whose body was wracked with massive hormonal changes. I pretty much had to pull Anko off of Sais thrashed body. It took Sai a week to recover from his wounds, and you gave him a little talking to about tact.

Even then, with your sense of humor and your chronic problems, you were always willing to help others with problems, even when your life is at risk. I should know. I was there when Danzos coup started.

I was reporting a mission that my team had just completed when the attack started. I tried my best to get to her, but I couldn't. I was about to go find Anko-chan (I often wouldn't want to drag her into anything, but in the end she IS also a powerful jounin and can hold her own. Plus she would kill me should she hear that I wouldn't come to get her when there was a great fight going on) when I saw you fighting off ANBU members and coming towards the main force attacking the Hokage. You and I hadn't said a word between us for quite some time, yet we worked flawlessly together. You and I managed to fight our way to Shizune-samas side, where she told us not only where Hokage-sama was but where Danzo was. I darted forward, not realizing that you had stayed with her for a little longer. But, stupid me, got involved in a fight with an ANBU member who was a bit too much for me. I was about to get a kunai in the chest when you came out of nowhere and took the blow.

Well, technically it wasn't you, but a Kage Bushin. The Kakashi in front of me disappeared in a flash of smoke and you came out from your hiding place, a glistening kunai cutting deep into the ANBU members side. You managed to save me once, and when I returned to favor you accepted it wholeheartedly. We fought against Danzo, and even at his age he was besting you and I. You said "Kage Sennpu" and I put it around both of us. I managed to keep it up while you charged your Chidori. When I was about to release it, you stopped me and, in a flash I could barely follow, went through the vortex of shadow and chakra.

_Through _it. I had never once seen that happen to anything. My skill with the Kage Sennpu is now second in defensive power only to the Hakkesho Daikaiten. And yet you charged through, disrupting the whole thing and plunging your hand through Danzos chest. After a few seconds, Danzo slumped and…well…that was it. Danzo was dead and the coup was over. The ANBU who supported Danzo were rounded up and prosecuted. You and I were hailed as heroes. However, you got most of the fame. After all, you were the one who killed Danzo.

I didn't mind. I've never really been one to care about fame or fortune. Once upon a time I was more about infamy, but even then I didn't do that bad. I didn't care to be famous. I simply wanted to help in my own way. So when Tsunade announced that she would be training you to become her replacement, I was more than happy for you. I wasn't the only one. In fact, it was just after you went to begin your training that Anko told me the good news.

It's been a while since things have been good with her. I know women can become very unpredictable when pregnant, because of the changing hormones throughout the pregnancy and whatnot. With Anko-chan, the result was one extremely thrashed apartment and a series of public displays of violence. There were many times that she had become hormonal and nearly sent me (or actually sent me) through a variety of materials.

I never knew that sheetrock was so bad on my back.

But, now Anko-chan is due any day now, and I know she's glad to get our boy out of her. I know Sakura is happy for me. She'll probably ask to be the godmother. Well, Anko-chan and I need to discuss those kinds of things. Name, too. I was hoping Satoshi, after my father, but Anko has been leaning to a bunch of weird names.

Speaking of weird names, I was leading a team of chunin when Orochimaru attacked. I personally led an attack against the sound ninja. I got separated and somehow managed to get caught near where Orochimaru had his base camp. I managed to come behind him when you, Gai, and Sai were leading the attack straight to Orochimarus doorstep. I darted forward, about to flank from the rear when Kabuto cut me off. I went to attack him, knowing full well that I probably would have a lot of problems. But as I moved forward to attack, Kabuto backed off. I moved forward to attack again but he moved off. Again. And again.

Then he stopped me. He said that he wanted to help because he was bored with Orochimaru and his idiotic idea of immortality. I was so confused that I missed not only most of the fight but also the final attack against Orochimaru. I just looked past to see Orochimaru with a glowing hand through him. Then, I saw Orochimarus body shudder and then begin to tear itself apart. Suddenly…

Kaboom!

I found out that you had perfected a variant of the Chidori that was developed from your year of training. It looked exactly the same externally, but I found out from Hokage-sama that when you struck through the opponent, you left some of your own chakra behind and unbalanced the whole chakra system. Normally, it just makes the person very uncomfortable and extremely ill as the foreign chakra works through that persons system. But when dealing with a man whose chakra system was as immense as Orochimaru and yourself, the amount of chakra left behind by you made the whole system overload and make the person essentially explode from the huge amount of pressure built up.

When Naruto saw it, he was in awe. Even with his new abilities and that new wind jutsu of his, he never would have expected something like that to happen. And I know I couldn't pull off anything like that. I don't know if Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama taught you that, or if you developed it on your own. But in the end bits and pieces of Orochimaru were going everywhere, you collapsed and the whole battle was over. I went to Anko-chan after I found out about your situation, and both she and I worried (well, as much as she can worry). As I anxiously waited for the news, she simply looked bored, like she was expecting you to just up and walk out, with book in hand like nothing happened In fact, I remember her specifically saying that "the old pervert brought down Orochimaru. He wouldn't just up and die on us."

Looks like she was wrong. And here we are adding another name to the stone as another friend.

But as a shinobi, both she and I know that death is something that happens. In a life such as our own, we are expected to put our lives on the line not only to perform the mission but also to protect the village. It's the life that you, I, Anko-chan, even those young men and women here have chosen. At the very least we honor those who have died protecting everything that we hold dear. It's my nindo, and I know it is often the basic philosophy of all those I care about as well. From my lovely (if slightly unbalanced) wife, to the young life now growing in her belly, I would give my life to protect them all.

Say, that reminds me…we still haven't chosen a name for the baby. I wonder what she'll think of Kakashi…

**END**

**A/N: **Now Iruka-sensei, my third-favorite character of all the Naruto series, has his thoughts up on the board…story…whatever. Well, I guess the next chapter will be ready in a little bit.

Now, I may have spelled the better version of the Kaiten wrong, but don't hold it against me, please? My Japanese sucks serious ass, so I'll look it up on Wikipedia just to make sure.

Also, as a final note, does it at all surprise you that Anko is as violent as she was when she was pregnant.


	5. Secrets Revealed: Anko

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Secrets Revealed: Anko

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 5**

Here we are about to bury you, the great Hatake Kakashi, the infamous Sharingan Warrior and the Rokudaime Hokage of Konohagakure. You were also as, particularly by the many single women in Konoha, the "Bachelor Hokage," the one Hokage who didn't have a spouse. For the month your lazy ass was in office, you were probably the most sought after man in Konoha. Yet, you always had some horribly stupid excuse for not going to go out with them, or on the odd time you would go see you would show up an hour late and read your damn orange books. And yet, that made you you. That made you Kakashi.

Man, this whole thing is depressing.

So you ended up worm food. Big deal, you silver haired jackass. A lot of people I know are now six feet under, and that didn't make me cry. My mom and dad. My teammates. Just about everyone special to me before my Iruka-kun. Oh….yeah, the little kid in my stomach now, too. He decided to play hacky sac with my pancreas to remind me he was there. I know I'll care for him…once he decides to stop using my various internal organs as training equipment.

But, there is something I have to live up to. Something I had been keeping a secret for over a year now, since you started your training with Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama.

I know your little secret, "Bachelor Hokage". I remember that when you were chosen to be the Rokudaime Hokage, you had women clamoring all over you. Hell, with all the women throwing themselves at you, I could have mistaken you for a rock star. Well, until you tried to sing. But you, being the passive jackass that you are, didn't seem to care. Hell, at first I thought you might have been gay. Or just a jackass. Possibly both. But I remember, just about a year ago, I came across your little secret.

I was reporting a successful mission to Tsunade (and planning on having some good "quality time" with Iruka-kun) when I went passed one of the rooms in the Hokage tower. I heard your voice coming out of it, but I really didn't pay attention to it at first. I had given Tsunade-sama the report and was about to make my way to my favorite mans place when I went by that room again. Suddenly, I could have sworn I heard another voice from the room. And it sounded like a woman.

I slowly, using my great ninja skills, to quietly make my way to the door and peeked in. You were sitting there talking to someone who I couldn't see. I opened the door a little more, but as soon as I did that you got up and walked out of my sight. I heard a stifled giggle and I decided to open it up some more. I saw you with your arms wrapped around a woman. I didn't get a good look at her, but as soon as I saw that I was sure that I was gonna go far and wide to find out who she was. All I knew is that she had black hair.

If only your dumb ass wasn't in the way (Okay, I wanted to go and have my "quality time" with Iruka-kun too, but that's beside the point!) I would have seen her.

Well, a few months go by and I didn't find a thing. And then, about eight and a half months ago, I started getting sick. At Iruka-kuns urging, I went to see a doctor. Funny enough, I had gotten a high raking doctor, the assistant of Tsunade herself. It was…oh, what was her name again…Shimini? Shikaura?

Shizune! Yeah, that's it!

Anyhow, I had gone and seen her about my sickness when you had made an appearance. At first, I didn't think twice about it. I knew you were going through your training with the Hokage, and you certainly didn't act any different way. But Shizune lit up, and I got a little suspicious. But, it was also that day that I found out that I was knocked up. I had gotten so caught up in the idea that I didn't look into it more. In fact, I was wondering what Iruka-kun would think. I was really worried what he would say, what he would think. I should never have to worry about something as stupid as that. In fact, that next day _my_ Iruka-kun went out and proposed to me the very next day.

It wouldn't have been any fun to just say "yes" right then and there. So, I screwed with him for a week. I already knew I was gonna say yes, but I didn't want to just up and say it right then.

But anyway, going back to the story in question: After the big parties and everything at my wedding, I had regular visits to the hospital, more often then not seeing (actually, requesting) Shizune. The more I stayed around and say you and Shizune, the more I thought the two of you were an item. The way she lit up when you were around. The more you seemed to relax when she was around. The way should Shizune would get snippy when some other woman would be flirting with you. The way you seemed to stiffen when another man was too close to her.

The final clue was five months into my pregnancy. I had arrived a little early to my appointment and I was more than a little irritable that day (In fact, earlier that day I put Iruka through our apartments wall.). So, being more than a bit impatient that day, I went to "knock" nicely on Shizunes office door (Translation: Bust that damn thing down) when I was stopped by something very familiar. Giggling. In fact, it was the same giggling I heard from that day months prior with your mystery woman. As I glanced through the clearest area of glass I could see, I saw you and Shizune sitting with each other. And let me tell you, the two of you were ahem getting friendly, to say the very least. I looked away when I saw your hand creeping up her legs and looked to be on their way to her…well, a place that many women enjoy being touched.

When Shizune came (a few minutes late) she had the biggest smile on her face, and her mind was definitely elsewhere.

I know that feeling. I have had that feeling plenty of times with my Iruka-kun. That feeling of being loved, being cared for. Being felt up by strong hands…

Okay, I need to stop that kind of thinking. I'm going to be a mother soon, and it'll take me a while to have any sort of fun like that for a while. But I felt happy for the girl and for you too. You know, for the longest time I thought you were never going to find a girl that interested you. Hell, for a little while there I could have sworn you were gay. But in seeing you with her at your most frisky was refreshing. Shizune also seemed happy, too, which made me all the more grateful. I know that with Tsunade-samas problems, that woman gets enough stress. The fact that you are giving her some love (and definitely some "good time", if you know what I mean) was something I KNEW Shizune would appreciate.

I don't how the relationship went recently, but the fact that the two of you didn't seem to have any problems made me hopeful for the future between the two of you. Well, until the Battle at the Gates. Even with the pink haired girl who was Tsunade-samas student and that freak with the glasses to heal you, it wasn't enough to repair the damage in time to save your sorry ass.

Maybe that's why she isn't here. Maybe Tsunade-sama knows where Shizune is. Most likely, Shizune was crying her eyes out.

But speaking of appreciating love, the damn blonde idiot that my Iruka-kun sees as his son has finally got someone to love him. To think the kid took as long as he did to figure out that the pale Hyuuga girl cared for him so much. Well, unless the kid somehow decides that Hinata wasn't worth it.

Lets just hope the kid isn't THAT stupid.

Another possibility: the pink-haired Haruno girl and the Uchiha. I know that the pink haired girl had at one time been one of his fan girls. It's like that every year, some quiet, hideously pale kid that's smart will have all the girls go after them.

Well, maybe not all of them…

But, ever since the little bastard came back, he's been on this little "soul searching" horse crap. The Haruno girl had been there, supporting him silently. Not with the stupid displays of love and happiness like many other fan girls, but of a woman who had waited for an idiot to see just how much of an idiot he was in the first place. Good thing I wasn't like that.

Huh? Why is Iruka-kun rubbing my stomach that way? I know he has done that sometimes when thinking about something for the baby. Why is he doing that now? What is he…

No.

He is NOT thinking what I think he's thinking! Why would he want to name our baby after you, mister I'm-gonna-be-freakishly-late-all-the-time? Why would he wanna name our baby after you, mister I'M-A-STUPID-PERVERTED-JACKASS? Well, seeing as you were the Hokage, I guess I'll have to let all of that petty stuff slide. But if he ends up at ALL like your dumb ass, I'm so gonna throw Iruka through more walls!

**END**

**A/N**: One down, three more to go! In case anyone can't tell, I have decided to make this a semi-sequel to "Tales of a Would-be Jounin", except for the fact it is set about four years passed the current timeline.

Next on the list is little Miss Hyuuga herself, then the ever strong (and uber-busty) Tsunade, and then our mystery chapter!


	6. An Heirs Thoughts: Hinata

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** An Heirs Thoughts: Hinata

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 6**

I really don't know how to react here. I know I'm supposed to feel sad, like Naruto-kun. I know I'm supposed to be looking inside myself and wondering things like the meaning of life. But today I really can't. I just stare at the memorial stone. I know I should be sad, but I'm not. I know why, too.

I have my Naruto-kun now.

I know he is sad. It was his jounin sensei that had become the Rokudaime Hokage and had died. I bet if it was Kurenai-sensei, I would be extremely sad. I bet I would think the same thing with Asuma-sensei, ever since Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei became a couple. Ever since then, I have come to know him and his nephew Konohamaru-san. It's funny, if I were younger I may have fallen in love with Konohamaru-san instead of Naruto-kun. I came to know much about the Sarutobi family, and, by accident, I found out many things about Konoha that I never knew.

I never knew Sandaime-sama was a pervert.

I never knew that Konohamaru-san thought so highly about Naruto-kun.

But the third thing I learned from my time with the Sarutobi's was one I know they didn't intend to learn. I had been there when one of the Sarutobi family members brought up the Kyuubi. He was drunk, and his drunkenness spouted about how Konohamaru-san looked up to the Naruto. Before the rest of his family stop his drunken rambling, he revealed to me something that I had never known. However, it was also something that had been kept from an entire generation of children in Konoha.

Uzumaki Naruto, the bright smiling young man who I had come to admire and love, was the retainer for the Kyuubi.

I really didn't know how to react at first. The person I care for, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed wonder that was Naruto-kun, was the thing that stood between Konoha and complete destruction at the wrathful hands of the Kyuubi. How could the man be so angry with a young boy to wish him death, even when if he actually killed Naruto-kun the Kyuubi would be free to try and destroy Konoha again.

As soon as those thoughts came to me, I knew why Naruto was so special to me, and now the knowledge of what was in him made me care more for him. Now I knew why the villagers hated Naruto-kun so much. I understood why he tried so much at what he did, why he fought so hard for what he believed in. Most of all, I knew why he defended all he cared for with his life, regardless of the consequences. When I found out, I came to a conclusion: I would love Naruto no matter what. He needed it far more than I do.

But when it was found out that Orochimaru was about to attack the village, I needed to tell Naruto-kun. I needed to tell him…because if anything were to happen to him before I could let him know how I felt, I …don't know how much I would be hurting now. I remember when I took him aside. I was beet red and, despite the massive amount of people there, had managed to get Naruto-kun alone. I was trying to tell him…but my voice was caught in my throat. He was about to leave when I said those three words, eight letters counting. I blurted them out so quickly and so quietly that Naruto didn't hear me at first. So I said them again.

Those three little words that I had wished to have said to him since the academy.

"I love you."

His first reaction made my heart drop. He looked almost like he didn't believe…or, possibly, he was repulsed by the idea of someone as dark, weird, and plain as me could ever love him. After all, he had many women coming after him since he became a jounin just a few months ago. Every woman was seeing him now as I have seen him ever since the academy: the proud, strong, confident young man oozing confidence and shining happiness through those beautiful sky-blue eyes.

But then he did something I have never once seen him do. He began turning very red and began stammering. It was…it was so adorable! Then he pulled me to him and he gave me a really tight hug, right then and there. I knew I was bright red, but I didn't care! Naruto-kun, my Naruto-kun was hugging me! I really didn't know what to do. He then pulled away and he said something that made me both happy and worried.

"When I come back, I'm taking you out."

I was happy that I had not only caught Naruto-kuns attention, but he thought of me enough to take me out on a date! But then I began to worry about Naruto-kun's well being. He was going to be one of the jounin in charge of the defense of the main gate, along with Shino-san, Shikamaru-san, and several others. If Orochimaru made it all the way to the gates, could Naruto-kun be able to fight him off?

I became extraordinarily worried. To the point I fainted right then and there, after having a panic attack that drew the attention of all, including the attendant of the Godaime Hokage. Shizune-san had me up and helping the secondary line with Choji-san and Ino-san. Ino-san was just as worried as me, but instead for Shikamaru-san. When there was a powerful explosion and the fighting stopped (I'm not sure which came first) the second line moved up give support to the front line if need be. It was then that the calls for medics came. Sakura-san and other medic nins ran forward, and I was so worried. I was worried for my Naruto-kun.

Then I saw him. Naruto-kun was rushing towards the back, screaming for Tsunade. I saw him stained with sweat and had thin lines of blood crisscrossing his body, but when his I was able to see his eyes I knew something was wrong. I really didn't know what had happened, but I know it had to be bad.

So I began to cry.

And as I stand here, with Naruto-kun, as he buries one of his important people. Sakura-san tried to heal Kakashi-san. Kabuto tried to heal Kakashi-san. Hokage-san tried to heal Kakashi-san. And yet he still died. Now I know why I'm here. I'm here to keep Naruto-kun company, to give him support when he is at his weakest. To help him deal with the crushing loneliness that being a jinchuuruki, being a host…the prision…of a being as powerful as the Kyuubi.

As I see Naruto now, I see that he needs support. I wish I could turn him to me and wrap my arms around him. Tell him it's okay. But, I am the heir of the Hyuuga. I can't just up and do something like that when we are burying Hatake Kakashi, the Rokudaime Hokage. So, I do what I can: I slip my hand into his grip, and I smile when I feel him grip it back tenderly. He then turns and gives me a small smile before turning his eyes back to the stone. I'm happy that he feels some reassurance.

Uh-oh. Now I'm feeling the many eyes of the other people there. Iruka-sensei. Anko-san. Even Hokage-sama is smiling at me, but she seems to have the kind of smile Naruto-kun normally had when he knew something important. I wonder if she has that same smile...

Now I'm starting to get red. Why does everyone have to look at me like that?

I guess it's not so bad. I know, should Naruto-kun and I actually become serious, that I would get many more unkind looks, despite my Hyuuga heritage. But right now, I don't care. I have my Naruto-kun, and I will be there for him. I do not care if he is the retainer for the Kyuubi. Naruto-kun is not that bloodthirsty creature.

Naruto-kun is the one who has given me more strength then any amount of bloodline has ever done for me.

**END**

**A/N:** Sorry for the short chapter. I was trying to make it the same length as the others, but her time with Kakashi is a bit limited compared to the others (Iruka and Anko having their time more in my own "Tales" then in the anime or manga) and her thoughts would be almost completely on Naruto himself.

Two more to go…


	7. Eyes of a Hokage: Tsunade

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Eyes of a Hokage: Tsunade

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 7**

I must say that I am a genius.

When you managed to wrest Uchiha Sasuke from the grasp of Orochimaru and made him loyal to Konoha again, you caught my attention. When you had managed to end that traitor Danzos coup, I knew I had my main candidate for the next Hokage. I know that the Council, even when exposed to Danzos treachery, did not think very highly of me. So, when I announced that Hatake Kakashi was to be the next Hokage and would undergo training with myself and Jiraiya, I know it was popular. I mean, you were the student of the Yondaime Hokage and you were a powerful ninja in his own right. You were one of only two ninja left with the power of the Sharingan, and you were someone who was a prodigy in his own right.

But my attention is not on the memorial Stone, or the big casket in front of me. It's on the people here. I'm trying to see what the people here are thinking, and why they are here. I know what I am thinking. I'm grateful that you were willing to take up the mantle of Hokage (in your own, strange kind of way). I was having a lot of problems with Danzo, and even when you had stopped his coup there was some problem.

Another big thing was you and Shizune. The two of you tried to hide it, but when you had come up the Hokage Tower with Iruka when the two of you came across Shizune-chan. Even with all the fighting, I know she thought you were amazing. I saw the little crush begin. Now, with you being the normally apathetic bastard you are, I had no clue what you thought of her. But then, I heard from Anko that you had some mystery woman and Ankos mission was to find out who that was. Well, as soon as I heard that, I knew who it was. The smiles from Shizune were a sign. The subtle movements from you to be closer to her were another. Then, when your training was up and you were to take the mantle of Hokage, the two of you began showing more affection towards each other then ever. Exactly one month and five days ago, when you had taken the mantle of Hokage and I stepped down as the Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, is when I knew how much the two of you came to care for one another. I had heard that the two of you had spent the night together. I now what had happened, obviously.

Ever since that night, she and you spent the night together twice, and I know it wasn't for charades or pillow talk. The last one was the day that we had heard that Orochimaru was on the move. It was about four days before the Battle at the Gate. The day of the battle, Shizune was a bit sick, but I had originally the nervousness of having to fight against the most bloodthirsty creature of this generation. But even after your death, she kept getting sick. I thought she was coming down with something. But then…I found out. I know there was something that she wanted to tell you from the result of that last night together.

You, Hatake Kakashi, the "Bachelor Hokage", are going to be a father.

That last night together had gotten Shizune pregnant. I know that is part of the reason why she isn't here. She had gotten sick again earlier today. But I wouldn't be too surprised if she is under the covers now, crying her eyes out for her newfound love. Sometimes, though, fate can be a cruel mistress. It was just as cruel in taking my little Nawaki. It was just as cruel in taking Dan. It was just as cruel in taking the Yondaime Hokage.

Speaking of which, I look towards the blond enigma that had come with Jiraiya to find me. The young man looked to be nearing tears in his thoughts. I know that, should he be talking, his voice would be wavering and uncertain. That is something that I never would have thought I would have seen. The young boy, normally so bright and cheerful, was now a mess. But when he perks up a little, my eyes follow his glance to his immediate right, to the young Hyuuga heir at his side. What a pair those two are. Just like Narutos own parents.

Yes, I know who they are. After all, I have access to all the records of Konoha. Both his parents shared many qualities, with his mother being a bit quieter than his father. However, they also shared many qualities, both having strong, nearly untouchable wills. Both had bright colored hair(although his mothers was bright orange). Both were stubborn as all hell. In fact, they were both students under my own teammate. They acted like they couldn't stand each other. In fact, I distinctly remember Jiraiya saying to me, so many years ago, that two of his students were about three seconds away from ripping each other limb from limb. I really didn't know what had happened after I had left, but as I had seen from the records the two became romantically involved and eventually married.

Almost as a gift for becoming Yondaime, the young woman Uzumaki Kushina had become pregnant and was due about one month after his appointment over Orochimaru. However, once the Kyuubi was moving within the Fire Nation, just a week before the due date, everything went wrong. Kushino started having issues with the later end of her pregnancy. Kyuubi was heading straight for Konoha. Yondaime-sama was in a major dilemma. The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had to come up with a plan. The plan he came up with was supposed to be foolproof, but in the end it was disastrous for himself and his family. It required him to disable the Kyuubi long enough to for someone to use a seal to seal away the Kyuubi into a newborn baby. However, it was at the urge of the Council of Elders (headed by that old bastard Danzo) to use his own baby. Yondaime-sama fought long and hard against the idea, but in the end he agreed. But his wife became weaker and weaker, and the Kyuubi showed itself and attacked Konoha. His wife died while in labor, and his baby was born without a living mother to care for him. However, the Kyuubi proved too powerful for the initial plan and the Yondaime used a forbidden technique to seal the Kyuubi. He sacrificed himself to save all of Konoha, but in the process the newborn boy lost all of his immediate family.

When I found this out, I wasn't surprised at all. In fact, I had seen pictures of the Yondaime when he was young. He does have eerily similar features to the young boy in front of me now. But what the Uzumaki blood gave him was more subtle but far more intriguing. For example, before their demise, the Uzumaki clan was known for their knack of wind-based jutsu and their rather large chakra coils. I always thought that came from the Yondaime himself, but it was actually a legacy of the Uzumaki clan, who themselves were from Uzu no Kuni. Another interesting fact: just two generations ago, when they had just settled into Konoha, several Uzumakis married into other clans. Most of the time they were minor clans and most eventually disappeared, like the Uzumaki clan itself, but one major merging has lasted.

The most direct and altogether interesting marriage was to the Yamanaka clan. In fact, the paternal grandmother of one Yamanaka Ino is in fact a full blooded member of the Uzumaki clan. So he does have some relatives alive today. In fact, the Yamanaka girl has a bit of a resemblance to her grandmother. She, minus the bright orange hair, is the image of a normal Uzumaki woman. Narutos mother was no exception.

Now my gaze goes to the Uchiha kid. Ever since he had come back, he had been going on and on (well, as much as someone as quiet as him could) about how you showed him "true power." Its funny, he has no clue what really happened. He has no proof of how much of a genius you are.

When you initially caught him (with the help of one of the Hedugakure shinobi) you were about to perform the seal when you got an idea. You performed a minor genjutsu on the seals focus itself, and then (with the Uchiha brat yelling and screaming the whole time) applied the seal to Sasuke directly, transmitting the minor genjutsu straight to the seal itself. Because it was so subtle (and the brat didn't have the Sharingan on at the time) Sasuke was none the wiser and reestablished his ties to Konoha. Not only that, but he has some support in his return as well. Naruto and Sakura. I'm surprised just how smitten she is now. It's a good thing, too. Sakura needs just as much love as Shizune did.

Now I see Iruka and Anko. Despite her powerful hormones making her kick his ass left and right, the two obviously love one another deeply. Iruka has proven himself skilled and altogether loyal to all he had pledged his loyalty. To his "son," Naruto. To his wife, Anko. To me, the Hokage of Konoha. I doubt he will ever reach your skill, but he will be a stone for our generation and the next. Unwavering in the face of any power. Unwilling to back down when all he cares for is on the line. Something a ninja should be.

In that sense, he has a lot in common with you.

Now I see the timid little Hyuuga girl become bold. She just stuck her hand in Narutos to give him some support here. I know she looks up to Naruto. I know what she said to Naruto before he left to set the front line with you. She is finally becoming strong enough to step up and break away from everything her life has told her. She had finally taking charge and taken what she wanted.

Good for her.

I guess I'll be taking back the mantle of Godaime Hokage. It kind of sucks to lose such a promising man like yourself, but in the end it what happens. My own sensei gave his life to make sure that Konoha was safe. The Yondaime gave his life so that his own son may live. You gave your life to make sure that Orochimaru no longer threatened your loved ones.

Like I said, I am a genius. I'm a genius to have put you where you were. Only that bastard Orochimaru is responsible for putting you in that hole, away from those you care about.

Rest well, Kakashi.

**END**

**A/N: **One left. The secret is almost here…Mwahahahahahahahahahaha! One thing for sure, I certainly hope it is good enough to be up there with the rest of the chapters. May I say that, after my experience with Tales, I never really would have thought I could get that amount of reaction. Guess I have some fans now…so I sure as hell don't plan to disappoint.

Oh, and I know Hedugakure isn't in Japanese…but it's a little hint for the future…

Hehehehe!


	8. Thoughts on a Foolish Cause: Gai

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name: **Thoughts on a Foolish Cause: Gai

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 8**

Well, well. It looks like the rivalry has come to an end. The genius, the young man who, at the age of thirty-two, had managed to be the second youngest Hokage of all time and had killed the greatest threat to Konohagakure. The very man I had proclaimed my "eternal rival" and had so many pointless attempts at what even my father had described as "sibling rivalry at its best." Granted, there really was no relation between me and you, but sometimes it felt like it…

Maybe it's time to cut the crap. The stupid, false perverseness. The complete foolishness of my "springtime of youth" horse-shit.

You, Hatake Kakashi, were just as much a brother to me as anyone could have been. Hell, we grew up together, and your father and mine were even on the same team as genin. We grew up as brothers, and damn well we reconciled as them too. I even remember the day that we had met, even though we we're only four at the time. I had heard from my father on how his friends genius son was allowed to go to the shinobi academy at the age of three.

I didn't really understand the significance at the time, but then I knew right then I would have to meet you. I had heard about just how cool the shinobi were from my father, so to hear that you were a kid like me and were going, you were nearly divine to me. I had spent the rest of the night begging my father to meet you, to allow me to see "the cool kid who's a ninja!"

The next day, after the whole thing had happened, it looked almost like I wasn't going to be able to meet you. But then, just as the night was going to end, I heard my dad come home, just like any other time. I had been lonely, because I knew that mama was gone, baby brother was too, so as usual I went to the door happy as can be.

Instead of barreling into my fathers strong frame and being lifted up into his arms, I instead barreled into a short kid with silver hair and wearing a mask. After a few seconds of confusion (with my dad not really helping the whole situation), we exchanged our first words with one another.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" I had said from where we finally ended up, my eyes caught on the weird blue thing I saw covering your mouth.

"How do you have such big eyebrows?" You asked back, your eyes widening with shock as your gaze went straight to my eyebrows.

From that moment, we we're the goofiest, but best, friends any two kids could ever be. I watched in awe as you managed to become a ninja when I could barely throw a ball around. But, seeing how my great, new "ototou" had become a ninja at such a young age, I pushed myself, got into the academy, and managed to graduate at the age of seven. Seven! Through my hard work, I had proven myself to be as much as a genius as my great oni-san.

Okay, so I needed to catch up a bit, but I was seven, for crying out loud. I had managed to keep the prodding, loud, obnoxious older kids from making me give up my dream, despite the fact that I had loved taijutsu to the point of "near-obsession." Well, you spoke no truer words to me.

At that time, me and my great, mask-wearing ototou were going to take Konoha by storm!

Well, until _that day_.

That one day. You and I were happily discussing our missions, wandering around from here to there when we had accidentally came across a large crowd. I just wanted to go around, but you, my ever curious ototou, had to find out what had happened. I decided to ditch you for once, but if I had been there, maybe I could have seen the horror you saw.

It was that day that we found out that your father had failed a mission.

That so many people, including my father and only living parent, had died. That you had to watch as your father made his decision to commit suicide rather then face the disgrace while he wasted away.

You had become so entrapped in your own world that you didn't even see what had happened to me. I began to act ridiculous, wearing bright green spandex while screaming that this was my springtime, and it was being blacked out by clouds. It had been something I read in a book, just before this whole shit pile happened. A book of poems, ironically enough Even when I became a chunin, I kept it up, and yet you and I didn't talk to each other for nearly seven years after that. With your importance in the Anbu, and my advanced taijutsu training, it was hard to even know that you were still alive, let alone the fact that you now had the famous Sharingan.

The next time we talked, I made a declaration that changed our relationship, and somehow got us closer again. A way to get my old ototou back.

"I don't care how much of a genius you are! You're someone who should have a rival to help out your stress issues! Hell, I'll be that rival, jackass!"

Somehow, with that angry series of words, we we're back in each others lives, albeit in an odd and beneficial way. We did stupid things, like when we were kids again. Push up contests. Rock, paper, scissor contests. Ramen-eating contests. It was stupid, childish, and altogether moronic, even with the extreme persona I had somehow developed. Yet you were willing to go along with it. I may have been annoyed with you on the outside as you somehow took on aspects of your teammate. Lazy, uncaring, and perverted. I took on aspects all my own.. Emotional, loud, and overzealous.

They were like what you wore on your face all those years ago, on that day that we met. They were masks for the world to see. They were masks to hide the fact that, despite our massively different outlook and manner of dress, we had been friends, and damn near just as close as brothers.

When I started training my team, the team with Lee, in my mind you were going to be much like I was to you: the foil and the fool, a way to see that despite our "rivalry" we could work together. I kept my mask, and when I truly tried to help, I got a "convert", so to speak. The one person who even you said was much like me. Determined, driven, and, in the same token, limited. I never really meant for Lee to dress and act like me, but in the end I kept it up, seeing how his determination increased when he began to act like me.

I know your shock when you saw that I had taught the Renge to Lee, and how I had even taught him how to open the gates. You were concerned for him, the way that a good uncle should. With Lee essentially my son now, you played your role as uncle, even in calling me on me teaching him how to open the gates. You said that you were out of line, but you were entirely right: I had risked his life just so he could become much like me, to do so much damage to your own body just for a extra burst of speed, an extra ounce of strength.

It's funny to see Lee act like the mask I created when I lost my father on the same day you lost yours. He's gotten better, mind you, but he still can be quite dense. After all, he doesn't even notice that the younger girl he has been training in taijutsu, one of the genin who passed the year after your genins did, has been looking at him. The way she blushes when he's around. The way her eyes light up when she sees him. What's even funnier is that the girl looks a bit like that Sakura girl from your team, the one Lee fell for at the chunin exams. Just with brown hair and, well, bigger breasts.

In a funny kind of way, it's similar to how that blond student of yours, Uzumaki, had acted to the attention of one Hyuuga Hinata. Even I saw that one, and now it looks like the little idiot has finally seen it too. Maybe Lee will see this Natsume Ayas attention soon enough, and then there will be plenty of little Lees running around as well.

At this moment, I would bet you ten Ryo that you would be laughing at me now, at having to describe a woman and only being able to find a look-alike with _that_ kind of noticeable difference, and how you would be cringing at the thought of more fuzzy browed kids running around Konoha.. Maybe with all those stupidly perverted books of yours from Jiraiya and your sarcasm, you might have finally rubbed off on the great Maito Gai. Or maybe, you're the young boy I had come to see as my ototou, the younger brother I never had yet had surpassed me, and I vainly tried to catch up any way I could.

Well, no, I don't see you that way at all. You were my friend. My adversary. My brother. All in one odd, silver haired, mask wearing package. And even with this gash down my back, and my movements limited, I know that I'll keep this mask on, the mask that said that I would never let some stupid injury keep me down.

After all, you said it best, the day we went to fight Orochimaru together (with no one looking, of course).

"It doesn't matter the masks we wear, Gai. Its what is deep down, and there you're my friend and my brother. And now I want that brother by my side to the end."

So long, my brother. By the way…the final count was 61-60. You dying before me does NOT count to your wins.

**END**

**A/N:** Now, I know this is quite UNLIKE the Gai you have come to know in Naruto, but as I have seen Gai in the way that he acts, and how Kakashi acts towards him, something always told me that there was something deeper, something more profound in that "eternal rivalry" of theirs. So, I came up with this idea based on that conclusion. The way that Gai acts is a mask, much like Narutos cheerfulness and Sasukes brooding, to hide the loneliness, in this case form losing what had become in Gais mind his brother.

The fact that Gai gets really worked up with Kakashi, and the way Kakashi becomes even more uncaring, helps me come to this conclusion as well. If it was a mask, like I say, then why is it that despite Kakashis apathy and Gais irritation that both seem to be willing participants, and the challenges are essentially random in nature, much like childhood or even sibling rivalry…Bingo! Instant contact!

Let me know what you think of this Unmasked Gai. Oh, and to answer a question…yes I did blatantly steal the name (and in my opinion, she'll look like her, so looks too) of Aya Natsume of Tenjho Tenge.

Oh, and as a further note, I have two more chapters in the works: one with Shizune, then I'll post Kabutos, which would lead to…(dun dun DUN!) another surprise chapter!


	9. A Personal Requiem: Shizune

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name: **A Personal Requiem: Shizune

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 9**

Why?

Why did it have to end this way?

Tsunade told me something about the nature of love, when my uncle Dan had died so many years ago. She was hopelessly drunk, trying to drown her woes in bottle after bottle of sake, and through her inebriated stupor she said something that confused me then. But now, with the man who was my lover…who was…and still is…the love of my life gone, cruelly torn away by fate, I understand now what she meant.

"When youh loshe someone important to youh…youh'll be scarred for the rehst of youhr life…"

Now here I am, crying over you, the silver haired man I had come to see as a friend…a confidante…and a lover…it makes so much sense. And that knowledge makes it hurt more.

I had met you so many years ago…and I really didn't think about it. You were always late with a terrible excuse and you were always reading that perverted book of Jiraiya-san. I really didn't think of anything beyond that. It's almost funny. I had been in the village for nearly four years without even knowing how great you were. You were just another face…another blur in the many people coming in and out of Tsunades office.

However, it was not long after you had gone on the mission with team seven to find Gaara. You had suffered from chakra exhaustion from your Mangekyo Sharingan, and I was put at the head of your recovery. It had been a week into your recovery and you were still fighting for consciousness. Well, I had been in the room and as I was looking over your recovery alone, when I got curious about your mask. I had never once seen you without it, and as I ministered your medications, I just got too curious… so slowly…surely…I reached for the masked and slowly pulled it down…

I have never once seen a man look _that_ good. It's…almost like a god in the flesh. It was like a male romance lead come to life right in front of me!

Of course…I was really not expecting you to be that good looking…so I had been a bit shocked. Suddenly, your eyes shot open and you gave me the biggest glare I had ever received. I had let go, and I pulled away, painfully aware of just how red my face was. I had stared at the face of someone who should damn well be anything but a ninja…

Ever since then, whenever I say you, I would get a little bothered. But I knew you were mad at me for sneaking a peek…

I felt like such a pervert.

It wasn't until that day…so long ago. I had been with Tsunade-sama when it happened. I was grabbing some papers when Danzo had made an appearance at the Hokage Tower. I was about to question why he had shown up when one of the ANBU grabbed me and began dragging me away from Tsunade-sama. Under his breath, he said he was going to 'have fun' with me.

I was so scared. I was pinned and my arms were somehow unable to work…I thought that I was going to have to be subjected to something as humiliating as rape when you…you had somehow come to my rescue. It was like a cheesy movie, where the hero saves the girl and declares his love, all in one fell swoop. But there you were. You had stopped the man who was determined to use me as a tool for his own amusement, and as Iruka, the man you came in with, ran up the tower to help out Tsunade-sama, you said something to me before disappearing. Something that made the same blush I had when I first saw your face.

"It wouldn't be worth it to lose a pretty face like you."

You were gone in a flash, but my blush stayed there.

It wasn't too long before you and I were getting together now and then, enjoying each others company from time to time. We had spent time much in the way Asuma and Kurenai did, with smiles and laughs and altogether friendly towards one another. Of course, I still had that crush I had developed when I saw your face…

When the news came that you were going to train to become the next Hokage, on the surface you were the same apathetic guy everyone knew you to be. However, as soon as you and I were alone to talk, you showed your excitement. In a big, intimate way.

That day was the day we shared our first kiss. It's a day I will remember fondly…and…

During your training, I saw just how strong you were becoming. I know you were a strong ninja already, to be able to match Kabuto, the silver haired glasses wearing ninja who I fought with and lost to terribly. But to see just how powerful you had become in that year was amazing. Of course, our little "secret" was just as exciting…

I knew that Tsunade-sama knew of our relationship. I suspect Jiraiya-san did as well, not to mention Ankos loud declarations of trying to find out just who Kakashis "mystery woman" was. So we kept it up, keeping our little rendezvous secret. We had never really gone anywhere beyond making out (where I got to see that magnificent face of yours again!), but when you were going to take the office of Hokage you and I…well, you and I expressed ourselves in a way that can't really be described without my thoughts becoming pornographic. It would be too lustful…too happy…

I'm sorry.

I should just break apart. I shouldn't be thinking about our happy times. The times I spent that left me feeling happy and complete. The times I spent time with my beloved fiancée…

Dear kami.

Now I remember what you asked me, the night I got pregnant. We had spent the night together, and you and I were lying in bed together. It was a feeling I could have gotten used to. Seeing you without your mask, being there with you, it was just too good. I knew that you were worried, and I held you close. You had looked like you had gotten to sleep, and then I whispered something into your ear. I could have sworn that you weren't even awake at that time.

"I will always be here for you, if you want me here."

Suddenly, your eyes shot open. It was a little bit of a shock. You didn't have your headband on, and I stared into the Sharingan eye of yours. Your expression softened, then you asked me the one thing I hadn't expected.

The one thing all little girls dream of when they look at the "love" of their lives.

"Is that a promise?"

At first I didn't get it. I was being serious, but I really didn't expect him to be awake. I could only stare as he reached over to what I could guess were his pants were. After a few seconds of rummaging through them, he produced something that I never thought he would have thought of.

It was a golden band.

I was to be married to the Rokudaime Hokage! I was so happy! There was no way anything like the news of Orochimaru moving troops would in any way dampen my spirits that wonderful day!

I'm a fool.

I was getting sick early that day, the day that Orochimaru had managed to get his troops within striking distance of Konoha. I stayed back and hoped, prayed, and altogether put myself through the emotional grinder throughout the day, trying to keep my emotions in check while the medic nin like myself were being swamped with the massive amounts of wounded. The battle was on and it wasn't going to be pretty. So I took solace in the fact that Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-san had trained you and you had become so strong under their tutelage.

You wouldn't die so easily, I told myself. You wouldn't go back on your promise that easily.

Stupid me for getting my damn hopes up, like a fool.

Within that day, Orochimaru was dead and you were on deaths door right behind the bastard. I was there, working feverishly with Tsunade-sama to get you back on your feet, to keep you from following the fiend you killed into the afterlife. After hours of working, hours of idea after failing idea, Tsunade-sama declared it too late to help him. He was gone.

I didn't want to believe her. I managed to hold out until after Sakura, Naruto, and the others in the room before I frantically began working again. I couldn't let you die! I wasn't going to let you become like the man who had been my father. To lose you the way Tsunade-sama lost the love of her life…

And I failed miserably.

I failed so miserably it's not even funny. I tried. I did **everything** in my power to keep you, to keep the person who had become the light of my life to simply fade away. And yet it wasn't enough!

But, maybe, there is something left in this world that has you all over it. Its in my stomach right now.

I had been getting sick, nearly every day since the attack and your death. I had thought that it was because of my depression, because I was still too strung out with the pain of not having you there. But, at Sakuras urging, I decided to talk to Tsunade-sama about my condition. I was surprised when Tsunade-sama began asking rather…intimate questions about you and me. I mean, I knew she knew about our little relationship, but I was confused about what she was getting at.

She scanned me, and then after a snicker and a smile, she said that I should start eating some more. I didn't get it at first, so my first reaction was to get up and go back to my apartment to lie back down again. I really didn't have the energy to think about what she had said.

It was only yesterday, when I was throwing up into the toilet, was when it hit me.

I was getting sick every day, soon after having sex.

I was recommended by the best medic in Konoha to eat more.

I was pregnant.

When I thought about it, neither time you and I had relations we forgot protection. It was a miracle to have not gotten pregnant the first time, but we hadn't really thought about it.

Well, even without you here, I'll have a small part of you here with me. It's going to hard to do this without you here…but I'll find some way. I'll take care of this child in my belly, even if I have to kill for him…or her.

It may be something I don't want to do, but I'll damn well better do it. For your sake.

**END**

**A/N**: Well, here is Shizunes chapter…hopefully, I got the mixing of Dark (Her depression over Kakashi) and Light (her thoughts for the Future).

Well, I'll load up Kabutos' chapter with this one, and I'll get to work on…"dun dun dun!" the next surprise chapter!


	10. Seeing What Others Don't: Kabuto

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name:** Seeing What Others Don't: Kabuto

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 10**

Here they all are. They are here to honor a man who had been a prodigy. He became a jounin when most kids his age were only academy students. He had the kekkai genkai of one of the most powerful clans in all of Konohagakure. He was one of the highest ranking ANBU, often commanding men almost twice his age. He was the man who ended the coup of Danzo. He became the second youngest Hokage ever. He died killing one of the most powerful ninja of the last twenty years. And now here he is, about to be buried and being pinned over in the thoughts and minds of all the people who came early to be alone with their thoughts.

And, as I look on at the precession as it stood now, there is something I need to say: This is so damn pathetic it's funny.

I see all these people here. Wee little Naruto-kun looks like he is about to begin crying. He had acted so tough at the main gates, even looking like he wanted to have a repeat of what had happened in his defense of Tsunade. That damn "Rasengan" of his hurt like hell. I remember saying, all those days ago, that I would pay you back in spades for hurting me so. Well, as I see the deliciously fragile looking Hyuuga girl right next to you, I see I could have my possibility to take out my little revenge. Maybe I can simply be psychological with her, scare her out of her wits and in the end let their own imaginations play at what I could have done to her. Of course, I could submit to my carnal urges…

Well, I do have plenty of time to plan this all out. It's only a matter of time. Now I can overlook all the other people, but first I just have to readjust my glasses. Damn things are always slipping.

Lemme see, lemme see. Ah, yes, the 36 double-d Hokage is looking a bit smug, like she had all the keys to this whole puzzle. Well, I'm a wild card your dumb ass never considered. Even with the anti-social ANBU you ordered to follow me lost my tracks. I never would have thought the fool would have fallen for a trick as simple as a henge. Damn fool was probably too concerned for his beloved little coloring book.

Note to self: Burn that thing and left the fool writhe.

Well, I know she is going to have to take back the mantle of Hokage, much like her own damn teacher. I hope I'm the one who ends her little reign, much like Orochimaru-sama ended his teachers' long, unfulfilled life. But, knowing that I am most likely to be the next Otokage, I think it'll be appropriate. Two Hokages lives ended by two of the Otokage.

Well, I can't think of myself that highly. At least, not yet. After all, Orochimaru fell victim to all of the seven deadly sins. It was pride that made Orochimaru spend far too many resources to bring back the Uchiha brat. It was sloth that delayed Orochimarus attack on Konoha even when Danzo attacked, because he was so consumed with finding the Uchiha kid. His lust and his greed stem from his ambition, his lust for power and his greed for the Sharingan. His gluttony was him engorging himself on the people of Otogakure for his own experiments. As for envy: he envied all who were able to stand against him and not fall. He envied them because they had skills that made them survive and, therefore, they had skills that he never had.

His wrath came out when told that the Sound Four lost the Uchiha. It was when he submitted to the last of the deadly sins and attacked Konoha. It was right then and there that my "unwavering loyalty" to the idiot snake master fell by the wayside. I know that Orochimaru was becoming more and more unpopular in Otogakure, and even if there was a rebellion Orochimaru would still continue on his idiotic plan for immortality. I mean, for a genius, how the hell could he think he could be immortal from learning jutsu? I think it's pretty idiotic.

Anywho, I know by now the idiot with the book has probably figured out that I wasn't where I was supposed to be.

When Orochimaru attacked Konoha, I decided to get away from him, but I needed an excuse. That teacher, the too-nice guy, gave me a way to get away from Orochimaru. He chased me…and chased me…and chased me. When he finally caught up to me (it had to be well within ten minutes or so) I told him I didn't want to fight. He stopped long enough for me to say that I was tired of Orochimarus idiotic ideas of mortality through jutsu. I was almost certain that I would have to stab Orochimaru through the back to kill him, but all of a sudden everything stopped. I turned , completely expecting to see your dumb ass impaled on the Kusanagi. But then I saw your hand, drenched in blood ran through Orochimarus stomach. I could instantly tell that the wound would have been near fatal to anyone other than Orochimaru. But then I saw something odd. The chakra powering your Raikiri was glowing an almost eerie purple rather than the normal bright blue.

I instantly knew what was going on. Not only had you molded your chakra in a different way, but your attack also pierced through an area in the chest of Orochimaru that is most unlike the rest of his body. It has much in common with the Kazekages back shoulder or that blond idiots' stomach. It was a place where a demon resided, one that, despite the use of a seal much different than either of those jinchuuruki, was what I believed to be the source of much of Orochimarus power and vanity. Of what I read of the Hachici, it as supposed to be extraordinarily vain and extremely powerful, only topped by the Kyuubi itself. In fact, the Hachibi was, from what Orochimaru told me, the very reason why the damnable fox cameo Konoha in the first place. Although I don't know much about Orochimarus past beyond his time as a genin, I know that he was a migrant from another area of the world at a very young age. I'm surprised no one noticed that the snake-like appearance could have possibly been a sign of the Hachibi. I wouldn't be too surprised if his teacher, and possibly Jiraiya or Tsunade (okay, I can effectively count out Jiraiya. That idiot couldn't pay attention to something like that if his life depended on it) knew about it. And, as an added plus, because of the very seal on Orochimaru, it easily transferred to another body, and Orochimarus consciousness drug along the Hachibi to the new body he inhabited.

Gotta love simplicity when it comes to body transfers.

I then turn to see the pink haired tramp. It's really pathetic now. She's crying like a whiny little brat, the whole time her eyes shifting from the stone to the Uchiha fool. That's another check on my list of revenge possibilities. The little pink bitch would be deliciously easy to break apart. But which would be better, more fun? Internal or external? Possibly both?

Now there is a loud sound behind me. Looks like the bastard found me well before I had hoped.

"I certainly hope you are here to give your respects," the voice from behind me called. I know exactly who it is. The bastard finally shows some emotion and it's in the form of sarcasm. To think he could have come so far. The bastard, with his now-angry eyes, eyes that would have shown no emotion in the years before, are glaring at me.

"You could say that…but then you'd be wrong," I shoot back, a superior smirk crossing my face. Man, was it fun to mess with that guy.

"It's time that you went on your way…four eyes."

Now I have to laugh. The idiot finally came up with one of his stupid nicknames for me, and it has to be one so ridiculous. Four eyes? Come on, he came up with "dickless" for the blonde idiot, and all he could do was "four eyes"? Now I really have to laugh. This is way too rich.

Uh-oh, maybe I was a little premature. I feel the gaze of numerous people, most of them from the people at the funeral just twenty feet behind me and ten feet below me. Now I feel some killer intent. Wonderful. I need my running feet.

In a flash, I'm of, with Sai right behind me. I know it will take a second to register the fact that the laugh came from me. After all, I did have some good cover, but the silver hair and glasses would definitely be a giveaway. I have to move fast. The book freak Sai is right behind me, and I definitely have to move fast. I mean, I need to get out of here…

Huh? I…I can't move! No! This isn't happening! What the hell is…?

Is this sand?

My blood turns to ice, even as the warm sand slowly wraps around my limbs, slowly tightening on my limbs and threatening to tear me apart limb from limb. I try to struggle, but there is a voice deep in my head that's telling me it's too late. I'm stuck. And I should have seen this coming. Of course the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, would come to pay respects! Konoha and Suna were now allies, and the two had become so damn powerful that they would have both benefited by the mutual defense pact. Hell, I should have been abandoning my plan as soon as I found out that there were also Suna Nin hounding the retreating Oto Nins in addition to the ninjas Konoha sent after us!

"So, you have come to mock the ways of those you betrayed."

That voice was so cold. Only one person could have a voice like that. I turn my head to the left and stare into two green orbs that may as well have been pit to hell. The red hair. The gourd. The symbol on his forehead.

I am so screwed.

"I may be a redeemed man, thanks in no part to you, so instead of killing you…," Gaara had said. I'm not sure if he said more right then or was dramatically pausing, but then the sand tightened on my left arm and right leg. I could only scream pitifully as the two limbs were twisted and contorted in ways that were so painful to me that I couldn't do anything else.

"…I'm going to cripple you. Go now. There is no more…love…for you here."

Oh, rich. Just how in the hell am I gonna manage that? I can only look at my horribly twisted left arm and feel the numerous breaks in my right leg. I can't respond to the red-headed terror that seemed to have been watching me the whole damn time, even when I was looking down on the ones I had labeled as pathetic.

Maybe it's me that's so pathetic.

**END**

**A/N: **Well, Here is Kabutos chapter again! I'll reload my thoughts and theories on Naruto again with the last chapter.

Toodles!


	11. Shadows Perspective: Gaara

**Fan Fiction Name: **Requiem for the Rokudaime

**Chapter Name: **Shadows Perspective: Gaara

**Info:** As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

**Disclaimers:** Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

**Requiem for the Rokudaime**

**Chapter 11**

So this is it for you, Hatake Kakashi. Sharingan no Kakashi, the skilled silver haired shinobi who had one of the most powerful kekkai genkai in the village of Konohagakure and Rokudaime Hokage of said village. Aside from the long walk and the disrespect of one of your worst traitors in recent history, it was nothing to come and say goodbye to the man who had been so influential, both directly and indirectly, to the people who have become my friends…my family.

The best example has to be the one person you oh-so-expertly described as "Konohas number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja." I know that it may be odd for someone like me, the former jinchuuruki of Shukaku and the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure. However, seeing your effect on the young man who drove me away from the foolish idea that I was to kill all the humans of the world shows me just how influential on him and therefore on me. It's fitting that it was the jinchuuruki…no, that it was the host of the Kyuubi that defeated me, the host of the Shukaku.

I know Naruto hates that word, and I have come to hate it as well. However, I cannot so easily remove it from my vocabulary.

Now as I look upon the stone, upon the many names that have been left on the stone I see before me, and I can hardly believe that I used to relish the killing. I once thought of it as the only way to vindicate myself, to make myself feel truly alive. And yet here I am on the receiving end of the loss inflicted…and I feel strangely crushed. I know that I was always closer to the individual team members of your team, particularly Naruto, rather than you. But, seeing how much you pushed Naruto, how much you were willing to push yourself to higher levels at the expense of your body and life in order to keep those precious alive and safe. It is what makes a Kage a Kage. It has never been how many ninja you have under your fold or how skilled you are at jutsu. It is the honor of being able to take on all those who threaten those around you, especially when those people see you as a true hero. In my case, I was viewed with suspicion when I became the Kazekage. They thought I would use Sunagakure as my blood grounds…but with my time as Kazekage, I proved them wrong.

When Shukaku was taken out of me, many of the thoughts of me slowly began to change to the positive. After all, I was no longer the host of the Desert Priest.

You may not have had something as drastic as the Shukaku, but you had the genius. You were a Jounin by the time most children are Genin. You were a genius without measure, being able to match one of the Akatsuki who had more experience with a power the person in question had. Uchiha Itachi was a man who would have sent most running, especially when they had skills with your very Kekkai Genkai and went beyond what you even had. Yet you matched him, all the way to when he used the Mangekyo Sharingan. But despite your problems with the Sharingan, you were able to match him.

Your fight with Deidara to save me, even when I had shuffled off of the mortal coil, showed me just how much you had influenced Naruto. You were willing to put your own life on the line in order to save mine, even when I had tried to kill students during the battle in which you lost the Sandaime Hokage.

It was the ultimate show of forgiveness.

It is the ultimate sign of strength that you gave your life to save your village, even when it meant you life. It's odd to think that of my team, only I had made it here. Kankuro is too busy trying to find out where the Aburame rival of his is. Temari is too busy trying to find the Nara boy, although from what I had heard from several people here that the Yamanaka girl has been doting over him since he got injured in the battle. I certainly hope that the whole village doesn't fall under the estrogen induced explosion that would happen from those two meeting.

It's in situations like this, when I attempt humor, I expect Shukaku to rear its head and drive me to internally fight to control my own body.

It was strange to sleep. Granted, I still have chronic insomnia but I am able to sleep. In fact, I even dreamed recently. It was odd, but it involved myself when I was younger, but it included several of my new friends, including Naruto and Lee.

Speaking of Lee, he was one of two people who greeted me at the gates. Oddly enough, the other person was a young woman who seemed to be…well…fawning over him. It was strange to see a woman seeming to fawn over the spandex clad ninja. But what seemed oddest was the fact that he…didn't seem to notice.

It's strange that I'm rambling on like I am now. Maybe it's because of your influence that I have become like this. It's odd.

Maybe it's because of you, either directly or indirectly, that I have become a better person.

It is there that I owe you thanks.

**END**

Also, some notes (or possibly some ramblings, I don't quite know which):

In case some people have noticed, I have been able to come up with some rather authentic Japanese names, despite the fact I suck at Japanese. That is because I draw most of them from another anime: the delightfully twisted and disturbing Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. Many of the names of my OCs from both "Tales of a would be Jounin" and this story were names drawn from that show. For example, Keiichi, the name of one of Irukas teammates that I created for Tales, is the name the shows main character. Sonozaki, Keiichis last name, is the last name of Mion and Shion (another name I used in "Tales"), two large characters from that show as well. If you watch it (which I suggest all reading to do) you'll find many more names that I used.

Now, I know all I said about the Uzumaki is all made up. But, there are some things that I have noticed that may have been overlooked by others. One thing is the lack of blonde-haired, blue-eyed characters in the show, the Fourth Hokage being one. Well, after looking over some pictures of Yamanaka Inoichi, I came to a startling conclusion: he shared many physical characteristics of the Fourth himself (Translation: they look a LOT alike). Well, I really didn't want to make the Yondaime part of the Yamanakas (Way too much power for a relatively minor clan), but then I remembered Uzumaki. It was from there that I came up with the blond haired, blue eyed Uzumakis, a clan that shared some traits with the Yondaime but were a separate clan altogether. Two: the meaning of Naruto. Maelstrom. Another word for storm. Combining that with Narutos knack for wind jutsus, I came up with a single coherent vision of the now defunct Uzumaki clan, combining the traits he has (large chakra coils even without the Kyuubi, knack for wind, and blond hair and blue eyes like the Yamanakas themselves) with some creative twists of my own (i.e. Narutos name).

Now, Orochimaru just screams jinchuuruki to me. The snake like look, the love of snakes, and so forth tell me that he is much like Naruto and Gaara. However, the body transferring proved problematic: if he kept changing bodies, the Biju would have to keep being resealed, which would mean the standard seal wouldn't do. But then I remembered that the seals could be different from person to person. After all, with Gaaras seals being so weak the Shukaku could effect him is a far cry from Narutos, so there was room for messing with the seals, allowing the two (Orochimaru and the Hachibi) to be far more uniform then the other jinchuuruki. As for who sealed Hachibi to Orochimaru…well, that's a subject for another day.

I know Gai seemed extremely OOC for his chapter, but with it I touch on a common theme for Naruto: Loneliness. Many of the characters in Naruto known for their odd behavior and quirks often have them developed to stave off the loneliness of being isolated from others. From Narutos nearly inexhaustible cheerfulness to Rock Lees relationship with Gai himself, many of the characters have their own ways to deal with the crushing loneliness. Now, in Gais case, his relationship with Kakashi has never really been fleshed out beyond the rather one-sided rivalry between the two. However, seeing just how much Gai would do for Kakashi when he lost conciousness during the Rescue Gaara arc led to me the possibility that they had been extremely close to one another in the past that would have Gai forget about their stupid rivalry and help him. Seeing Gais odd behavior and the fact that Kakashi didn't seem to care afterwards, makes me see the possibility of loneliness being at the heart of Gais…umm…"delightful eccentricity."

Now, I am working on not one, but three fics at the time dealing with Naruto. Two are currently now on and in progress: one dealing with Naruto pre-two year jump (The Gathering Storm) and the other a future fic (Legends of the Past). I like them, because they allow the creation of new characters that can easily fit into the story of Naruto as a whole, not jammed ham-fistedly in.

The third, which is in the brainstorm phase, is an AU fic that draws upon ideas laid out in the "Guardians of the Flame" series of books. If anyone has ever read them, or if anyone reading has much experience with fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, will see many similarities. Others, well, will just have to hop on and enjoy the ride. It'll certainly be interesting, that's for sure.

And for the stats of Requiem:

Hits: 4700

Reviews: 38

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Once again, thanks all for reading, and thanks for the feedback with my additions!


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